Cami was lying on the sofa. There were layers of compulsion to remove, so it was taking a pretty long time. As she groaned and turned on the cushions, MJ's hands stayed on her head as she tried to be as delicate as possible. It wasn't like Cami was screaming in agony, and it wasn't like she could die the way vampires could, but it was still like her brain was being put through a shredder.

Josh was walking around the apartment, inspecting collections of post-it notes Cami had left around the room, proving what MJ had said to Marcel right.

She'd assumed Klaus would wipe her again, and she'd left notes telling herself not to trust him, to look at the 1919 Opera photo, etc.

Davina was inspecting MJ's process, sitting on the sofa arm, holding Cami's hand.

"I'm so tired," Cami groaned out, eyes closing.

"I'm sorry, Cami," MJ gave her a moment to relax, "But it's the easier way to end Klaus's compulsion."

"I know what it's like," Josh coached from the sidelines, "You'll be okay."

The optimism was appreciated.

"And hey – all these notes that you made? It's very Momento of you. Nice work."

MJ rubbed her hands together, "Love a Nolan reference."

"I don't understand what's happening to me," Cami shakily took a cup of tea Davina had made for her, "I don't understand any of this – "

"But you will," Davina said firmly, "Every stolen memory will be back. Any mind control that any vampire has ever done to you."

MJ nodded, "When I'm done, you'll understand all of it, and you'll be free."

Cami stared at MJ's hands.

"I can stop," MJ did need to ask, "If you want me to."

Cami lay back down properly, "No, don't stop."

She put on a brave face.

"I want to remember everything."

MJ nodded, placing her hands back on Cami's temples and feeling the magic rush into her system.

She tried to make it as fast as possible, a brighter red glowing from her hands, Cami tensing up beneath her as they broke through the next layer of magic, ripping it off her mind.

"You should start to feel the weightlifting."

Cami nodded through her pants.

"And your cheat sheets are about to make a lot more sense," Josh lent forward to toss the files Cami had made onto the coffee table, flinching back as the sunrise caught his hand.

"I promise," Davina's shoulders slumped, "As soon as the world stops hunting me, I will find the daylight ring spell."

"I know, just," Josh looked at her like she was ridiculous, "Don't worry about that right now."

Cami spotted a paper that had fallen out of the file. Lines were going in different directions at angles across a shape, letters written in red at certain points.

A code she'd left for herself.

"I remember why I wrote this," Her eyes went wide, "I found a picture of Klaus and Marcel from 1919."

She looked up, shocked.

"Klaus compelled me to go out with Marcel! To spy on him," She sat up, "That's what he said yesterday. Before he told me to forget!"

MJ's voice was soft, "Ready for more?"

Cami pulled MJ's hands back onto her head as permission.

The final layer of information Klaus had clouded began to slip away, and since it was the last of the compulsion, it was the weakest.

The memories hit, Cami gasping out, flinching out of MJ's hold.

She was happy to let the movement happen, feeling the lack of magic in her friend's system.

"It's done."

"I – I can't believe – " Cami's mouth was open as she leant forward, rubbing her forehead and breathing deeply, "That son of a bitch!"

"His mother is, in fact, a bitch," MJ commented, "And I'm really sorry for letting my personal quest to mess with Marcel compromise the fact I hate unwanted compulsion on people."

She knew apologies weren't always enough, but they were the start.

"I never should've let you get dragged in, and I certainly shouldn't have tried to be your friend while it was happening."

Cami slowly looked at her, biting into a cheek, then nodded, "Thank you for saying that."

"No thanks," MJ denied, "I told Josh I owed him. I owe you too. No 'thank you's' until I've made it up to you – Now,"

She stretched as she stood up properly, clicking her back.

"There's still a few hours left before morning. If you're seriously planning on running, you need to rest."

Cami stood up from the sofa, "Take the bed."

"Are you sure?" Davina looked uneasy.

"Definitely, I...I need a moment to process anyway," Cami forced a smile, picking up the tea again, "This is really good."

MJ managed a smile too, "It's magic."

Cami paused.

"Don't worry. Healing. Mind mending magic, and I can actually teach you to make it if you want."

"I...can make...magic tea?" Cami lifted the cup up, inspecting it, while Davina slowly picked herself off the sofa too.

"Everyone can use basic herbs for healing remedies."

"But aren't healing remedies, like, bogus," Josh raised an eyebrow, "Unless you're a witch."

"Depends where you buy the ingredients," MJ's hand drifted up to her necklace again, "In 14th Century Uganda, a group of people came together to learn ways to make potions where the ingredients do the work, so they didn't need to 'waste' magic."

"Really?" Davina climbed into the bed, "That's a thing?"

"Yep," MJ nodded, "There are herbs you just don't hear about unless you're a witch; they have internal magical properties. Anyone can buy them. Anyone can use them."

Cami took another sip of the tea, "Good to know."

"They're also the group of people that helped vampires discover they could give people dreams."

Kol had written about learning to do it in one of the journals. Reading the 14th Century section of his life had basically explained everything he'd done to help when Esther had tried to hex her.

He'd learnt healing potions that didn't require personal magic from the people in Uganda. They'd also been the people to push experimenting with compulsion, letting him go in their heads to see how to root through thoughts. He'd done that to wake her up, and after he'd woken her up, she'd gone back to a peaceful dream he'd given her.

Elijah's journals had then written about how he'd learnt about it after finding Kol using it to mess with people. Giving nightmares to those he'd leave alive so they'd think they'd killed the bodies he'd left and hand themselves over as demons in the night instead of just plain compulsion.

It was clever, in an awful way.

MJ could feel emotions all over Kol's entries – so much jealousy – meaning the switch had faded back in. Still, he'd been without emotions for so long that he was basically fried when it came to murder and mayhem. Like he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about any of it since he didn't want to feel bad, and he'd enjoyed the time without the guilt.

He hadn't turned it back on, so it hadn't hit him like a truck the way it had with Elena and Stefan. It had just dripped back in, numbed.

"So, Klaus can not only mind-control me but invade my thoughts in my sleep," Cami sucked on her lip, "I'm never going to bed again."

Rage bubbled up.

"He's invited in! I already invited him in – and he can control me!"

MJ laughed a little, "Don't worry, we can get you vervained up to stop compulsion, and dream meddling is kinda harmless – plus, if you're terrified of him, I can put up a protection charm."

Cami looked down, "I'm not scared, I'm just feeling..."

"Violated?"

She nodded.

"Get that," Josh sat down on the sofa, too, in a spot the sunrise wasn't reaching.

MJ suddenly started to wince, catching everyone's attention.

Davina sat up in the bed, "MJ?"

"It's fine," She waved her hand, "Just a migrai – Aa- Ah!"

She grabbed her head.

Josh jumped forward as she doubled over, supporting her.

"What the hell," She looked around, trying to work out what could possibly be setting her off.

'MJ'

A familiar voice.

"MJ!"

"Bonnie?"

He shook his head, "My name's Josh,"

"I know you can hear ancestral whispers, so I'm really hoping I somehow count...Then again, you've learnt to tune them out, so..."

"Um," MJ felt like someone was whacking her on the side of the head, slowly letting go of Josh's arms, "Can I borrow a pen?"

Cami was watching her carefully, "Go ahead."

MJ grabbed one from the nearest counter, drawing her ghost rune on her left temple, muttering the activation word.

Spinning in a quick circle, she spotted Bonnie's awkwardly smiling face by the TV.

"Bonnie!"

She clapped before both of them hugged each other, "You heard me!"

Joys of magically holding herself in between the spirit world and reality.

MJ enjoyed the moment before stepping back, "Did you hit me?"

"...Maybe..."

"What's going on?" Davina moved, still sitting in the bed, but feet touching the floor, ready to get up if it was a bad thing.

"Basically," MJ quickly jumped round to face the three of them, "I have a peculiar relationship with spirits. Sometimes I just see them. When I was younger, they'd want stuff off me. I can control it now."

She pointed behind her.

"My dead friend Bonnie is here."

Cami, Josh, and Davina shared a look, blinked, and then went back to looking at her like she was crazy.

"This means I can connect with the dead," She tapped the rune, "Their frequency and stuff."

"And," Josh was staying close in case she toppled down again, "This is my life now."

"I feel like I should be introducing myself," Bonnie commented, "Who are they?"

"Camille – Cami, Davina, and Josh," MJ pointed, "Human, witch, vampire."

"Cool."

"Now," MJ turned back to her, "Why were you hitting me on the back of the head? Not cool!"

"I didn't realise you'd actually feel it when the rune wasn't there!" Bonnie justified, "And I kinda have a huge favour to ask."

"Anything."

"I need you to come back to Mystic Falls."

"Because?"

"Damon made a deal – "

"Urgh," MJ scoffed, "Worse way to start a sentence."

Bonnie laughed, "He made it with Silas."

"And it somehow got worse!"

"To bring me back."

MJ paused, "Seriously?"

"Silas agreed."

"...Okay."

"Silas bailed."

"I'll kick his ass."

"Damon's gone to find Qetsiyah to get her to do it."

"Qetsiyah's dead..."

"Not so much."

"Huh," MJ considered it, "Good for her, I guess."

"Basically, a lot's happened, and I'd feel a lot safer with what's going on if you were part of it."

"I'll..." MJ looked to the concerned Davina, exhausted Cami, and Mr-Most-Likely-To-Die, "I'll be there. I'll start driving back soon."

"MJ," Bonnie came forward, "You really don't have to."

Damon had taken the deal that she'd rejected.

But Silas had backed out the way she'd assumed he would've...

"I meant what I said before the funeral about how it felt unfair to make you bring me back. But I also wanted to ask, 'cos like, if this is really happening –  "

"And I told you I wanted to," She cleared her throat, "I'll come back."

"Thank you."

"See you soon," MJ watched as Bonnie disappeared, back to Mystic Falls.

The others were still just staring at her.

She deactivated the rune, "The ghost is gone now."

"There was a ghost in my apartment..." Cami was a little shell-shocked, rubbing her face, "I – okay."

"She's a friendly ghost?" MJ tried, shoulders going up.

"You just do that?" Josh was fighting off a smile, "Get called on by spirits and then sent on missions for them?"

"She's a friend, so yeah," MJ looked at Davina, "I don't wanna just go."

Davina felt unsafe. If anyone understood that, it was MJ.

"I wanna help you get out, but she died, so her best friends brother didn't have to, and she died to stop the supernatural afterlife from falling to pieces, so, um, I kinda have to help her..."

"Of course," Davina's cheeks were rounding, "You're helping someone."

She was a kind, traumatised teenager.

"I'll be fine with Josh and Cami," She suddenly realised something, rushing her words out, "If they're still happy to help?"

"Of course I am," Cami nodded, "You didn't ask for any of this, and you're a kid."

"I'm seventeen."

"You're a kid," MJ repeated the sentiment, "And that's coming from the nineteen-year-old way out of her depth. I still feel like I'm a kid in the big picture."

"Twenty, technically immortal, and same," Josh agreed.

Cami sighed, running her hands through her hair, "You're right. We need a moment to regroup."

MJ nodded, "I am sorry that I have to go."

Part of her felt like she should just take Davina and Josh with her, but the rest knew that wasn't a good plan. Davina needed to talk to Marcel, and it wasn't like Mystic Falls was safer, especially if Silas was running around.

Kol...

He'd be in Mystic Falls too, but she hadn't exactly had time to come up with any way to bring him back yet.

MJ started to itch her arm.

"Oh my god," Josh's eyes went wide, "What the hell is that?"

She looked at the spot, eyes growing too, "What the – "

Lifting it to the light showed bloody lines cutting into her skin, stinging and creating symbols.

"That's – that's Aramaic!" MJ was sure of it.

"Which is?" Cami asked.

"A dead language from two thousand years ago spoken by a recently undead witch."

"Scratch my previous declaration about how this is my life now," Josh blinked rapidly, "What on earth is your life?"

"Tell me about it," MJ started to translate from what she could remember, "Oh, god, ah – ah...the spell."

She muttered, rushing onto her phone to find the translation spell her brother had sent her, speaking it the moment she had.

'I think it's time we meet – Tessa'

Her other arm started to sting, worse than the other, more blood appearing.

'Hurry if you want to help your friend.'

"Witches are so unnecessary!" MJ cried out, "But yeah, this is a summoning – I really gotta go."

Cami pointed to the sink, "Do you wanna clean up a little?"

"Thank you," MJ quickly washed the blood off while leaving final instructions, "Stay hidden, stay safe, but remember there might be more to the story."

She dried her arms, the cuts still there but not openly bleeding.

"I'll be back soon and – " She paused, writing down a number on a piece of paper, "My phone number. Call if you need anything – and, Josh!"

"Yes?"

"My friend has a daylight ring spell. I'll find it."

He smiled, "Really?"

"It's in her Grimoire. I find her Grimoire. I can get it for you."

She didn't know what Marcel had done with his, and MJ hadn't found the page about the original one in Esther's yet, so she'd take a picture of Bonnie's to save time.

Rushing through the super early morning crowd, people were setting up dress rails at discounted prices at the front of their shops for the Casket Girl festival. MJ was going to just climb in her car and drive, escape before she could be dragged into the search for Davina, but she realised she couldn't just do that. Disappearing would make people either worried or angry, and she'd promised Matt some Traveller answers.

Traveller answeres were in books she'd stored at the compound.

She had expected it to be quiet since it was around four in the morning, but she found Hayley and Rebekah digging through chests of old clothes in the courtyard. Rebekah's hair had been freshly curled, and it suited her well, but her expression was pissed off.

Looking around from the shadow of the entrance, MJ could see Klaus, Marcel and Elijah standing on the balcony.

"Used by the witches," Rebekah began to list, "Lied to by Marcel, manipulated by Elijah, threatened by Klaus."

A fun list.

"Just like a modern-day Casket Girl."

"Are you talking about Davina or yourself?" MJ mused.

They both turned to look at her.

"And where have you been?" Rebekah asked cautiously.

"Yeah..." Hayley raised an eyebrow, "You were the last person seen with our missing witch."

"Mira!" Klaus jumped down from the balcony, Marcel and Elijah walking down the stairs like normal people, "Where have you been?"

MJ held up her bloody arms, "Having a fun night."

His eyes went wide.

"I'm needed in Mystic Falls."

"You're kidding?" Marcel gave her a look, "We need a tracking spell, and you're just peacing out."

More blood started to appear further up her right arm, her swallowing her momentary scream.

"Oh, my lord," MJ yanked out her phone, dialling Damon on speaker to help prove her point.

"Sabrina! Just the witch I was planning on calling."

"Tell Qetsiyah to stop with the summoning," She hissed, "I'm coming."

"I just wanted to be sure you got the message," A female voice said with mock innocence, "I need help, and I thought we deserved a proper meeting."

"Yes, well," She gave Marcel and Klaus sharp looks, having proved she wasn't just trying to pull one over on them, "I'm on my way. Stop making me bleed!"

She hung up.

"Can I go now?"

Klaus frowned, stepping closer to pick up MJ's arm as Rebekah and Elijah exchanged a lot.

He was inspecting the marks, wiping the blood off the fresh wound away.

MJ wasn't sure what he was doing, "Klaus?"

"This is Aramaic?"

"It is."

The new message had read, 'Call Damon Salvatore'

"Aramaic?" Elijah pulled a face, "Why are you being summoned with a dead language?"

MJ sighed, "The witch who made the cure brought herself back to life."

One way to get Rebekah's attention.

"Aramaic is her native tongue. Silas is alive too. He has a way to bring Bonnie back from the dead, so we're bringing Bonnie back from the dead."

"Silas?" Rebekah interjected, "As in – "

"Yes, the immortal Silas," MJ waved her hand, the books she needed flying from her room, "He's making demands and cheating out on deals, so I'm gonna find a way to kill him."

She wanted him gone.

She wanted him gone for hurting Stefan. She wanted him gone for causing the mess. And she wanted him gone for being the heart of the reason Kol was dead.

Klaus bit his wrist and offered it up to her.

She shook her head, "I'll heal it in the drive back."

He shrugged, putting it down.

Marcel blinked slowly, "It's okay that I'm confused right now, right?"

"Yep," MJ nodded, "Don't worry about it – and you're all looking for Davina?"

They all nodded.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that?" Elijah asked pointedly.

"I think someone should've told her Agnes was dead," She looked pointedly at Marcel, "And now needs to come up with an excellent reason for why he didn't."

"You know where she is," He assumed.

"She's looking to get out of town," MJ didn't outright lie, "She could be anywhere."

Also true.

"I got whacked by a ghost then summoned by an ancient power, so, have fun with your problem. I'm gonna go deal with the one making me bleed."

Shouldering her now book filled bag was the signal the conversation was over, MJ turning on her heel while giving her final message.

"And Klaus, don't do something you-like. She's seventeen, and she seems a lot less forgiving than me."

~***~

MJ actually ended up catching the one flight that went directly from New Orleans to Virginia that day to try and get there as soon as possible. MJ wanted to be back in New Orleans to make sure Klaus didn't explode at Davina, which, knowing Klaus, he would probably do, but she couldn't leave saving Bonnie to everyone else. Her lack of faith in them had her jittering.

During the taxi ride from the airport back to Mystic Falls, which was about an hour of travel, she called Jeremy to get caught up on everything she'd missed.

Qetsiyah had brought herself back to life and been the one to find Stefan after the summer, responsible for his amnesia. Silas had then made a deal with Damon, he'd raise Bonnie from the dead in exchange for Katherine, and if they couldn't get him, Katherine, they needed to help him get the anchor so he could destroy it and The Other Side.

It was lowkey the same deal Silas had given her, except Silas had gone more direct by outright saying Bonnie, a person he knew everyone wanted back...

And he'd gone to a person more willing to take it.

MJ didn't even judge Damon for saying yes.

Maybe she should've said yes.

Kol had told her not to, but still...if she did say yes?

Bringing one person back felt so sketchy, especially when it was for her own selfish feelings.

Bonnie was about everyone. And, she didn't deserve to be dead because she was willing to bend nature for Elena Gilbert.

Hearing Jeremy tell her about Katherine getting drained of blood was conflicting.

Katherine had killed Jeremy, but MJ couldn't help but feel bad for her. She felt bad because it was Katherine!

Just like every other man dumb enough to get pulled into her webs, MJ had gotten herself stuck too.

Caroline had told MJ that Katherine was sleeping in the dorm room's spare bed, and she'd passed on the message to Katherine that MJ wanted to hear from her, but Katherine hadn't called. Instead of calling, she and Caroline had been investigating a creepy biology teacher and some secret Augustine Society.

Caroline had been keeping MJ updated on this Dr Wes Maxfield because she thought the science behind the supernatural would be right up her ally – which it was. MJ had just been too busy to really think about it.

The next reveal was that MJ's theory about Amara was true too. The girl was still alive and immortal, acting as the anchor to The Other Side.

Jeremy, Damon, and Silas had found Amara. Amara had attacked Silas to drain his blood and become mortal too, and was now on a mission to die herself.

They'd locked her in the basement to stop her from doing that.

Silas called off their deal about raising Bonnie, so Damon had suggested getting Qetsiyah involved. They could potentially switch Amara and Bonnie, giving Bonnie a permanent foothold in the realm of the living as the anchor, allowing Amara to die without destroying The Other Side with her.

It would work because Bonnie was a descendant of one of the lines involved with The Other Sides creation...meaning MJ couldn't use it for Kol instead...not that she would've...but...

No.

She couldn't have done that to Bonnie.

MJ wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do since it sounded like they had it all figured out, but Qetsiyah had asked for her, so she was presumably meant to perform the spell?

She found herself flicking through the immortality and Other Side notes she'd picked up in Greece to start working out how an anchor swap would even work. It seemed super similar to what her mum had done with the Floare power, meaning those spells were helpful too, reminding her to reactivate her spirit rune once she reached the town line.

Eyes darting around, a cool breeze appeared on her hand, and Kol was next to her.

Given the taxi driver in the front, they just smiled at each other, MJ shuffling closer to him until she arrived at the Salvatore House, standing in the drive.

"Knew I was coming back?" She teased.

"I overheard a phone call between the least interesting couple in town," He summed up, "Back to witch-fix their problems?"

"Sorry," MJ grimaced, "Though, proves we made the right choice by not taking Silas's deal."

"True," He gestured to the door.

As usual, the door was unlocked, and it seemed empty, so MJ headed straight down the foyer and into the kitchen, hungry from the flight and due on.

Her instinct was to pull out ice cream and Stefan's collection of toppings.

Kol grinned, then the smile faltered.

"Hey," MJ moved closer to him around the counter again, "Talk to me?"

"I never got to try what you're eating."

"...You were in Italy, and you didn't try gelato?"

He shrugged.

"It'll be one of the first things we sort out once your back," She started to scoop the ice cream into a bowl, "Um..."

"Yes, Mira?"

"Small request - "

Before MJ could finish her sentence, there was a rush of air, and Stefan stood in front of her.

"Hey, amnesia land," She smiled.

"Not so much," He smiled too, rushing forward at a human pace and hugging her tight, "Thank you."

"5...4...3.."

"You have your memories back?" MJ stepped away.

"Woke up with them this morning – Tessa-Qetsiyah, eh, whatever she's going by – she gave them back as an act of revenge."

"He did something to betray her, but it was out of town, so I don't know what."

"To think," MJ held up a book, "I had a spell ready and everything."

Elena appeared at the kitchen door too, "MJ!"

"That sounded like a fakely enthusiastic greeting."

MJ bit back her smile, whispering, "Agreed."

Cleared her throat.

"Hi!"

Elena shot Stefan a look, "Can you talk some sense into him?"

"Sense?"

Stefan rolled his eyes, "It's nothing."

"He's plotting to kill Silas," Kol snitched.

"You want to kill Silas?" MJ cheered, both of them doing a double-take at her 'assumption,' "That's second on my agenda today!"

"MJ," Elena pleaded.

MJ shrugged, "Sorry, but it is."

"Yes," Kol pointed at her, "Be safe, but yes."

Elena spoke slower, targeting Stefan, "Haven't you heard? It's bad luck to kill your doppelgänger?"

"Oo!" Kol put a hand in the air, "Since he's human, you can - "

"Yeah?" Stefan's face stayed blank, "Well, if I don't kill him? He wins."

"Can you light him on fire?"

"And what if he kills you first?" Elena shook her head, "Witches aren't exactly easy to take down."

"Or turn his body into bugs."

"We just got you back, Stefan," She sighed, "Don't do anything crazy."

"It's not crazy. It's removing a problem."

"You and I have been down the revenge road, and it's not worth it."

There was a stillness in the room, and MJ felt like she probably shouldn't be there. She'd gone to New Orleans for revenge, and she hadn't gone through with it because she'd seen the light, and she'd steered Tyler towards a better path too.

Not because she didn't think revenge was worth it, but because she thought it was a case-by-case basis.

"Mira?" Kol noticed how tense she looked, "Darling, are you okay?"

MJ blinked, "You blame Katherine for Jeremy dying, right?"

Both Elena and Stefan shared a look, slightly confused where the question had come from.

"Yeah," Elena nodded, "I do."

"But she didn't actually do it," MJ pointed out, "Silas did. Silas drained him of blood."

Elena raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to talk me into a revenge plan?"

"Is she trying to act like she's above murder?"

"No, no," MJ said quickly, "I was just curious where your brain was at, considering you got revenge on Katherine – non-murder revenge, but still. And you got Jeremy back...Do you still blame her?"

"Well," Elena rubbed her arm, "Yeah, Silas might've been the one to actually do it, but Katherine was the one who set it up. And the one that shoved Jeremy's neck in his mouth."

"Oh," Kol clicked, "You're..."

"She didn't even want the cure; Katherine just wanted to give it to Klaus, and he was there, and he was related to me. She's the one to blame."

MJ smiled to herself, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Kol started to chuckle.

The ex-couple had utterly missed the point MJ had made about Elena getting her revenge, and they missed the half-point MJ was making about blame. Katherine had been the one to plan it, and in Elena's opinion, it was a selfish murder. It had been about freeing herself from Klaus.

Reminded MJ of something else.

She closed her eyes for a second to shake the sarcasm from her head.

"Revenge on Silas?" MJ focused on the friend in the room, "The memories brought this on?"

"There were these moments in that safe," His head dropped, "A stillness in time."

He didn't want to look at either of them.

"When I was dead, right before I was about to come back to life, I would think about things in the past that made me happy. Things that gave me hope. All these things kept me sane," He glanced between them, "They pushed me to hang on when all I wanted to do was turn off my humanity."

MJ was so happy he hadn't flipped it.

"But, eventually, the pain took those moments away from me too."

"Sounds like the dagger."

Elena rubbed her hands together, "I'm so sorry."

"Every time I close my eyes," He walked to her, "I can see Silas stabbing me. I can feel myself drowning, and I need to make it stop."

MJ wanted to hug him again.

"If I don't kill him, I'm gonna lose my mind, or I'm gonna turn off my humanity...Or both."

"Then we kill him," MJ said plainly.

Elena shot her a look.

"It might help, it might not, but if it means that humanity switch stays on, I'm all for it."

"Agreed. For different reasons, but agreed."

"It'll help," Stefan sounded so sure.

"If he stops trying to kiss you, I could actually get on with this version of Stefan."

"There's no guarantee of that," MJ looked to her living friend, "But if it'll help you feel secure and safe and stuff? I'm in."

"Thank you."

"But – "

"Oh no."

"No acting rash. We plan this out, okay?"

"I can help, right?"

She glanced at Kol, "Give me a minute."

Stefan raised an eyebrow but didn't push. The add on wasn't that non-sensical.

Elena tried one last time, "Guys – "

"Go play moral high ground elsewhere, please," MJ crossed her arms, "He needs to get his anger out. Once it's out, he can let it go."

Elena didn't actually have a response to that; she just went back to looking at Stefan, worried.

"I'm trying to eat here," MJ pointed down, "Just got off a flight."

Elena took the hint, leaving with a strained smile and a bob of the head.

Stefan didn't though.

He pushed her bowl around, looking like he wanted to make one himself.

He kept going to say something, then stopping; MJ let him take time.

It couldn't be easy, having his memory wiped, then restored all at once, especially since most of his memories weren't very pleasant, and she didn't want to force him to talk about it.

Being in the kitchen was nice. MJ knew where everything was, and it made her want to buy an apartment of her own even more. A place for her. All her snacks, her way of organising things, and space. To really settle because she was ready to plant roots somewhere.

"Can he just say what's on his mind or get out so we can talk?"

"Stefan?"

"What's the plan?" He finally managed to ask.

"We wait until the anchor is successfully transferred; keeping Amara alive until that's done is the priority, then..."

"I just want to see his body ruined in some fashion," Kol leant against the counter, "It's Stefan's face. And a version that has also kissed you."

"I..." MJ needed to have two conversations, holding up a finger by her side to single quiet to Kol, then, back to the misty look in Stefan's eyes, "Disassociative episode?"

He looked down, "This morning, I woke up, unable to be."

"Stef..." She gave him a quick side-hug, but his body was so tense it was like he didn't even process it.

"Thank you."

"You said that already."

"I needed to say it again."

"Why?"

"Silas is still using my phone."

Fun.

"But I have it all backed up...and when Damon was trying to work out where he was, we went onto the online stuff."

"And?"

"I got to read all my summer messages."

"And you saw my mass hysteria," She felt kinda embarrassed, "Sorry. I kept thinking you needed space but was worried, and you'd told me that using blood to just location check people was bordering me on stalker territory, so I didn't wanna just do it."

Kol awkwardly pushed up to sit on the counter next to her.

"And when I finally went to do it, Silas phoned," She hated it, "I was stupid for not doing the check anyway, but it was your voice."

"MJ. I'm saying thank you."

"I haven't done anything worthy of thanks."

"You really have."

"You noticed," He looked down, "You missed me."

"You're my friend. Of course I missed you."

"That's more than anyone's ever done for me."

"I would do more for you."

Stefan smiled, thinking the comment was for him.

"But," MJ motioned to her bowl again, "Could I have a few moments of peace before we dive right into this."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Bonnie's here," She lied.

"Oh!"

"Um, we both feel a bit weird talking with other people in the room - you know, too much re-explaining her responses."

"Yeah - um, obviously," Stefan backed towards the door, "Hi, Bonnie."

"Buzz off."

"She says hi back."

"She says that though, as of late, you're more interesting to watch, you still grind her gears."

And then they were alone again.

MJ waved her hand the second the door shut, so no one could listen in, biting back her smile at his commentary, then turning to face him with a sorry expression on her face.

"What is it?"

"Can I not pull today?" She walked closer to him sitting on the counter, "I want this done and dusted as quickly as possible - then, I'll meet you at the apartment tonight for a catch-up."

He frowned.

"Feel free to watch. I will be killing Silas, just...if I mess this up and Amara dies..."

"My spirit will be gone with her."

"As much as you'd probably help."

Her, not the situation.

"If you're here to watch," She rubbed her arms, "It's a constant reminder of everything I'll lose...and that pressure?"

"You need to focus," Kol leant forward cautiously, feet returning to the floor, directly in front of her, "If you change your mind, I'll be right here."

"And I'll be thinking of you all the while."

His lips twitched up, hands lifting gently to her cheeks.

"Just not enough to call you forward."

They were both just staring at each other, incredibly aware that he wasn't really there, but pushing it, his lips gracing her forehead, MJ closing her eyes at the cold breeze of the feeling.

"I will be doing more for you," She repeated, "See you later..."

"Later."

The word was so much nicer than goodbye, filling her heart with hope, letting MJ happily eating her ice cream, unspelling the room, and hearing the front door open.

Two people were talking as they came inside, MJ heading to the foyer with her ice cream to get a look at Qetsiyah. Curly dark brown hair, gorgeous skin, and a loose blue dress on the face MJ had grown somewhat familiar with. Damon was behind her, holding his leather jacket and looking tired.

"You live in this giant mansion with two doppelgängers that are destined to end up together?" She inspected the hallway, "I swear there's a sitcom in there somewhere."

"And you're seriously alive now," MJ declared in greeting.

"The Floare," Qetsiyah's smile was oddly smug, "Regret not heeding my warnings now?"

Damon clicked his teeth, "Warnings?"

"She kept telling me to leave the cure alone," MJ summed up.

"Oh no," Damon shook his head, "She heeded – she very much heeded. Did not think we should've gone looking for it. Told us not to a bunch."

"I just got ignored."

Qetsiyah quickly eyed her up.

"What's my part in this?" MJ asked while happily eating, "I assume you're using doppelgänger blood, since, you know, magical binding properties tied to immortality that'll make an anchoring spell actually work. And it'll represent Amara while we represent Bonnie through something the blood will then be spilt on?"

"Very good," Qetsiyah spoke with the same slightly demeaning tone Elijah used.

"But you can do that, so why am I here?"

"I need a Floare."

"Again, why?"

"Because, to cast the spell, I only needed myself. The Other Side didn't exist, so it was born onto Amara."

"Gross way of phrasing," MJ nodded enthusiastically, "Love it."

"But to move it," She scrunched her face, "I'd need another witch. Someone to suspend it."

"Oh!" MJ clicked, "You need me as your door to The Other Side so you can move it without damaging it – you wanna use a Floare Transference spell!"

Floare spells like that needed a witch to represent the living, one to represent the dead, and one to act as the grounding agent.

Damon put a hand up, "There is someone who doesn't know what that means in the room."

"If she just cast a spell on Amara, lifting The Other Side off her, and dumping it on Bonnie, that's really risky."

Nothing would be holding it together.

"Especially now Amara's taken the cure," MJ stressed, "She'd be damaging Amara, i.e. damaging The Other Side. Casting the spell through me, a witch who can open a doorway to The Other Side, Amara isn't at risk."

Qetsiyah seemed to relax, "Precisely."

"The only problem," MJ felt bad killing the vibe, "I'm a siphoner. I can't be channelled."

"Oh, I know," She wasn't bothered.

"Don't you need to channel me to use me as a foothold?"

"No," She pulled out her own Grimoire, "It's two spells woven together. You'll say one, I'll say the other."

MJ grinned, "Loophole."

She hadn't thought of trying that before.

"So, where's the ancient boyfriend-stealing bitch?"

"This way," Damon led her to the basement door.

Before she went down, Qetsiyah handed her spellbook to MJ, a page dogeared for her to read.

Since she wasn't bothered about getting a look at a face she already knows, MJ took it and headed into the drawing-room, starting to study the spell. Once again, it was written in Aramaic, cueing her to recite the translation spell again, pulling out her notebook and Esther's Grimoire to compare them.

She let herself get a little distracted, alone in the room with nothing to do but learn and eat ice cream.

Distracted meant checking out a different spell.

She was comparing the immortality spell to see how Esther had edited it for vampirism.

After what felt like a while, MJ was finally joined by Qetsiyah again, who instantly noticed she was on the wrong page.

"Sorry," MJ flicked back to the anchor spell, "I was nosy."

"Not planning on repeating my mistake, are you?"

"No," She didn't have any reason to just magically make a vampire or an immortal, "But you let me wander off with a two-thousand-year-old Grimoire, and I lack self-control."

"Hm," Qetsiyah walked around her slowly, "I still don't quite understand how you managed to find me that first time."

MJ sat up a little, "You said you'd been calling out for someone."

"I'd been calling out for my descendent."

"Well, that would be Bonnie, not me."

"I'm aware."

MJ swallowed nervously.

"But the universe sent me you," She looked down her nose at MJ, "Interesting."

"Yeah," MJ put the book on the table, closing Esther's, "Funny thing, that universe."

Qetsiyah tapped the cover of the book, "Can you read Aramaic?"

"With a cheat."

"Not all of the spells are written in it – most of the spells are a mix of different, now forgotten languages."

MJ rubbed her neck, "Spells like that are a nightmare to translate."

"True."

A pause.

Qetsiyah watched how MJ used the neck rub to start fiddling with her necklace.

"A lot of the ingredients for things are now extinct too," She added, "That was a fun discovery I made during my return to mortality. I needed to work out alternatives, and I needed to locate old belongings."

"Your talisman," MJ assumed, "Bonnie had it for a hot second."

"And now I do," She brushed her hair to the side, pulling the necklace over her head, "How would you like an impossible challenge?"

MJ's eyebrows furrowed, "I'd say what we're about to do, on paper, is an impossible challenge."

"Yet we'll succeed."

"I have faith," MJ smiled, "Impossible is more of a guiding word than a fact."

"Is that a yes?"

"Depends on what the challenge is."

Qetsiyah ran her hand over the cover, placing her talisman on it, "If everything goes as plan today, I won't require either of these things."

MJ tensed.

"It would be quite the mammoth task, translating and updating all of these spells..."

"Bonnie's your descendent," MJ shook her head, "I couldn't."

"As the anchor, Bonnie won't have access to magic."

Her eyes went wide, "I – are you serious?"

"About which part?"

"Both."

"Yes," She nodded, "To both."

MJ stared at it, "...Why offer it to me?"

"I've already said, the universe sent you to me."

It was weird how she'd found the witch post-chat-with-Henrik.

"Two thousand years of not talking to another witch because the spirits were scared of what would happen if I was contacted, and then you found me. Twice."

MJ finally blinked.

"If you don't want – "

"Oh my god! Yes!" She snapped herself awake, "If you're serious? Yes!"

Qetsiyah smiled like she'd won something, and it almost made MJ rethink the decision.

"You're just gonna die?"

"Once I know Silas is dead, yes."

The door to the room opened, Caroline in a cute yellow top and Katherine in heeled boots that MJ wanted to steal.

"The cute one is here," Katherine declared, halting when she saw MJ sitting on the sofa, "Mira..."

Silence.

MJ stood up slowly, "Hey."

"Hi."

They were just staring at each other across the drawing-room.

"You didn't call me back."

"I changed numbers."

"Caroline could've given you my new one."

Katherine tilted her head and didn't say anything.

Caroline put her hands up and backed out of the room, "She's all yours."

"Nope," MJ grinned at her friend, "We need a reunion."

She jogged out the room, the door shutting, leaving Katherine and Qetsiyah alone together so MJ could hug her friend and put off her Katherine-talk for a little bit.

"Is Ty – " Caroline cut herself off, "Nope. No. Don't answer that. I didn't finish the sentence. That's not my first question to you."

MJ nodded.

Caroline hugged her again, "You look good."

"For someone who's working off no sleep and a rushed flight to be here?"

Caroline tensed, "No sleep?"

"Don't even worry about it," MJ assured her, "Siphoning compulsion off someone most of the night and helping a runaway teen witch."

"Oh, so a good reason," Caroline relaxed, "Not like, your stress reasons."

"My stress levels went up when I had a visitor who shall not be named, but they are back down now, yes."

Caroline nodded appreciatively.

"Because there is no reason to be stressed about him."

"I don't wanna know!" Caroline repeated, "He made his choice."

"How you holding up about that?"

She looked to the floor and just looped her arm tightly with MJ's to lean into her, "I'll be better when we have Bonnie back."

"And I'm even happier to help get her back now."

"Are you seriously gonna be able to?"

"The spell's legit," MJ had definitely missed Caroline.

The door opened, Qetsiyah behind it, "Where's Tweedledee and Tweedledum?"

"I'll grab them," Caroline let go to let MJ prep.

She awkwardly walked back into the room, carefully glancing at the quiet and human Katherine and then back to the spellbook.

While she read the words she'd already memorised, Katherine was just staring at her.

Qetsiyah pulled her face in the middle, head switching directions to process what was happening around her.

She rolled her eyes, "Should I even ask?"

That forced both of them to look at her, eyes unintentionally meeting.

MJ returning to her page first.

Katherine sighed, "We're at a complicated place in our relationship."

"Complicated?" MJ started to set up small candles on the table.

"I killed someone she cared about, who'd also killed someone she cared about, and her morals are making her mad at me."

MJ hit the book, "I'm mad because you didn't call me!"

"I didn't think you actually wanted me to!"

"You said you were sorry, and you got your punishment," MJ gestured to her, "You're human and vulnerable – I was upset, but I didn't want you getting hunted down and killed by somebody you pissed off a century back!"

Katherine fiddled with her hair.

"You could've at least called to say you were okay!"

There was a part of MJ that hated how her voice cracked.

"You should've called when you thought Silas was after you – and you definitely should've called when he actually managed to drain you of  – "

"You're not a means to an end!"

Neither were moving, MJ frozen in her position, gripping the candle tight, all energy focused on holding her gaze, seeing how uncomfortable Katherine looked.

Slowly, she straightened up, "What?"

A second silence.

The earlier disinterest Qetsiyah had expressed was long forgotten, amusement all over her face.

"You wanted proof I wasn't just playing with you," Katherine forced herself to continue, "And calling you this summer felt like I was proving that I was."

That did make sense.

"And you were with Klaus and Elijah!" Her other reason, "Calling you was putting you in the middle, and I didn't really want them to know and – "

"You're forgiven," MJ mumbled.

Katherine took a seat by the table, "Thank you."

"But you really should've called me – especially when you decided to come back to Mystic Falls."

"No chance," Katherine scoffed, "I was the one constantly telling you to leave. I was not about to be the reason you came back."

MJ laughed a little at that.

"And can I just say," Katherine looked her up and down, "That Mikaelson money is treating you well."

She properly laughed.

"You look so good right now."

Klaus's credit card basically meant MJ could buy any fabric she wanted whenever she wanted, so all her homemade clothes were top tier. Plus, eating well and being happy in the city she loved was all good for her. Sleep meant good skin.

"You know," MJ gave her a sly look, "Jeremy came back, and you suffered, so I can actually admit I missed you without feeling too guilty about it."

"Nice to feel appreciated by someone."

"How's humanity been treating you."

"I found my daughter."

MJ's eyes went wide, "What?"

"But I'm keeping it on the hush," Katherine sent Qetsiyah a half-glare before saying, "I haven't told anyone yet, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Understood."

Any kid of Katherine's would not be welcomed with open arms.

"She's a vampire then?" MJ had to assume.

"Turned to track me down."

"But you're the most evasive woman on the planet."

"Which is why we're only just meeting."

"And how is that?"

"I'm..." Katherine pulled a face, "I'm working it out."

"Which means?"

"I've almost died a few too many times recently," Katherine decided, "And I have no clue what I'm supposed to do since I'm pretty sure she'd older than me."

"Fun."

"Hm," She slumped on the table, "And I hate mortality – I hate the way it feels."

Which made sense for her.

"Everyone talked about that stupid cure like it was gods gift to man, but I just feel like I'm going insane."

"The same thing happened to my mum," MJ exhaled.

"What do you mean?"

"She was overloaded with power for years."

Unable to die.

"Finally got free of it, then got paranoid because she'd adapted to being the apex predator. She was always on edge, and it made her make risky decisions to regain that sense of security."

Like stealing a second stone to give herself a power store.

Caroline led Elena and Amara in, putting a pause in their catch-up – it was time to bring Bonnie back to the realm of the living.

Amara was in a pink Greek chiton, curled hair half up, half down, all naive face.

MJ looked between the three of them, coming to the conclusion that Katherine was definitely the hottest. Something she didn't even understand, given how they were literally identical, but eh.

Amara took a step back when she saw MJ next to Qetsiyah.

Her voice was soft and nervous, "Another witch?"

"MJ," She introduced herself, "That's my name."

She nodded, each step a tiny movement closer to the high octagonal table they would be using, eyes jumping over Katherine too.

All three of them stood on one side while Qetsiyah and MJ were on the other.

MJ held the spell pages open for a final scan of the words she needed to say, the pronunciation going through her mind while Qetsiyah placed Bonnie's Grimoire out on the centre of the table.

Amara looked at it suspiciously, "What is that?"

"It's Bonnie's Grimoire," Elena answered.

"A grim – what?"

"It's a magic spellbook," Katherine fake smiled before muttering, 'idiot' under her breath.

"It's a talisman," MJ tried not to look at any of their faces too long, starting to feel like she was in a funhouse surrounded by mirrors, "Since Bonnie can't be here, her grimoire will represent her."

Qetsiyah raised the knife up, "Hands in, palms up."

Amara hesitantly extended her hand out, but Qetisyah just yanked it forward to cut her palm as quickly as possible, blood spilling onto the Grimoire below.

"Sorry, love," She said sarcastically, "Did that hurt?"

"I've been through worse."

Katherine went next, "Easy, okay? I'm fragile these days."

Qetsiyah didn't cut that time, holding the knife in front of her and down so Katherine could grab it herself, applying just enough pressure to cause blood to drip down it and join Amara's. Her wincing face was a stark contrast to Elena's smile about the situation. The youngest doppelganger was looking at Katherine as she stuck her arm out gleefully, the knife diving right into her palm, and she didn't even flinch.

"Show-off," Katherine huffed.

"Ready to go?" Qetsiyah asked MJ.

"Yep," MJ put her hands on either side of the Grimoire, "You?"

She nodded, beginning her side of the spell – the living side.

"Ina Pran Khos – "

"Suptheia Jhem Ai – "

" – Pada Khey – "

"- Ra Sattan."

The blood began to move on the top of the cover, merging the three collections into a triquetra, a Celtic knot.

"Ina Pran Khos – "

"Suptheia Jhem Ai – "

" – Pada Khey – "

"- Ra Sattan."

All the candles flared up, and Bonnie became clearer in front of MJ, the girls smiling at each other as she started to represent the world of the dead, hands tapping on the table in excitement.

"Ina Pran Khos – "

"Suptheia Jhem Ai – "

The flames burned brighter and brighter, roaring in their ears

" – Pada Khey – "

"- Ra Sattan."

Every light in the house went out.

Qetsiyah shook her head, eyes raging, "No."

"Is it done?" Katherine asked cautiously.

"No," MJ looked to Bonnie apologetically, prepared to start again, "It was working."

Wind flooded through the windows, glass shattering, shaking the chandelier over their heads, electricity jumping from bulb to bulb, breaking them too and sending power sparking everywhere, making MJ's heartbeat jump. Her hands instinctively shoved out, drawing it to her fingers in spinning wisps and directing it out the window before it could hurt anyone.

"What is happening?" Elena called over the wind.

"Silas is happening," Qetsiyah snarled, "Show yourself, bastard!"

The room went completely dark, faces nothing but vague outlines.

"I can't see anything," Katherine complained, "Can you?"

MJ didn't hang around, noticing the lack of Qetsiyah beside her.

Her hands went straight into the blood, getting it all over her hands before running out of the room, not about to let the chance to get Bonnie back slip away.

Followed a light source, MJ found Qetsiyah holding a candelabrum out in the library, a face that matched Stefan's waiting for them, causing her to hesitate.

"That was quite the show, Silas."

"Thank you," He had a large and bloody plaster on his neck, "You haven't seen the love of my life running around here by any chance, have you?"

"If you wanted to find her," MJ snapped her fingers to light the other candles in the room, forcing herself to be part of the conversation, "Maybe you shouldn't have turned off the lights."

He smiled, scanning up and down, "I was wondering when we'd finally get to meet again, Floare."

"Don't look at her like that," Qetsiyah scoffed.

Silas gave MJ a look, "See what I'm working with here?"

He was such much blunter than Stefan.

"I give a small greeting to another witch, and she automatically assumes the worst."

"I mean," MJ pulled a face, "You cheated on her."

"Because she's crazy!"

Qetsiyah flicked her hand, a glass container holding family artefacts flying at his head.

Silas swerved to the left, it smashing into a wall as he gave MJ another 'look at that' face.

"You've had two thousand years to watch us suffer," He reminded her, "Why can't you just let it go?"

"Maybe I'm just not wired that way."

Another thing went flying at him, and MJ didn't know whether to stop Qetsiyah or not. T

hey needed to finish the spell and save Bonnie, but MJ had agreed to help Stefan kill Silas.

Where was Stefan?

She suddenly realised she hadn't seen him since she left the kitchen to meet Qetsiyah, and considering he had super senses, she could assume he would've come running at the chance to take Silas down, and yet, he wasn't.

"Honestly," Silas bit his lips, "I feel sorry for you. Hateful vengeance is for people without real love."

"Wasn't hateful vengeance what kept you from taking the cure?" MJ crossed her arms.

"No!" His eyes were big, "That was all so I could join my one true love instead of giving an angry ex a win! And this?"

He gestured to the blackout induced house.

"This is setting my lover free from two millenniums of pain. It's not vengeance! It's love!"

"Cool motive," She shot him two peace signs, "You still kinda ruined our lives for a hot minute."

"I offered to fix yours."

Qetsiyah pulled a disgusted face, looking at MJ like she expected the younger witch to suddenly attack her or something.

"You have a crappy track record of screwing people over," MJ clapped her hands together, "I'm not letting you destroy The Other Side."

The smashed pieces of everything Qetsiyah had tossed at him all rose into the air, smashing into the back of his body, arms and legs, his pain-filled yelp and arched shoulders making Qetsiyah smile.

She then separated her hands, fingers curling down, so his hands started to shake, bones about to break.

"And I have a spell I would like to finish."

"You think you can beat me," He repelled the spell, tossing her back, "I was the first immortal!"

He turned his palms up violently, and her hands were slammed against the fireplace.

"I have two thousand year's worth of magic."

MJ tried to say a spell, but it was like her mouth was being stitched shut every time she opened it, blood spilling out from her gums and the skin of her lips cracking.

Qetsiyah went to attack, but Silas just turned his head towards her, hands still directed at MJ, forcing her down and making her scream too – a poker from the fireplace soaring through the air and driving through her shoulder.

MJ shut her eyes and tried to twist her wrists together, "Ri – riz – "

She was so close.

She could feel his spell shaking, but her concentration was fried.

"Rizass – "

A split second of buffer was all MJ needed to free herself, exhausted from the act and desperately spitting blood out of her mouth to try and give herself her voice back.

"You spent two thousand years waiting for me to die just so you could be with me," He wrapped a hand around the poker to twist it deeper into Qetsiyah himself, "When, all along, the universe knew I belonged to somebody else."

She groaned, MJ using his distracted focus to activate her personal healing charm, needing a moment of stability.

"Doesn't that make your whole existence, like, I don't know, a total waste?"

Tears were brimming in her eyes, "I loved you,"

"Yeah?" His sympathy was fake, "Well, get in line."

His phone rang.

"Sucky timing, Stefan."

He let go of the stick, letting the magic hold her to the bannister as he looked over to MJ while talking.

"Well, I'm a little busy right now watching my nemesis bite it," He grinned at Qetsiyah, "Plus, I have no interest in saving Amara's life."

The muffled sound of Stefan's voice, Silas slowly starting to frown.

More noise.

Silas gritted his teeth.

The call was hung up, and he was running out the door.

MJ smiled.

That was exactly what she needed to happen, skirting over to Qetisyah.

"I have a plan."

Qetsiyah raised an eyebrow.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"You don't have the power too," She groaned.

"Maybe not, but you do."

Qetsiyah shifted up.

"You hesitate, and you're out of practice."

The fact she'd simply thrown things when she could've just fried Silas's brain baffled MJ.

"The power's there – you told me you'd find peace when Silas ended up on The Other Side, so are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?"

Qetisyah realised what she meant, "You want to siphon me."

"We finish the spell, I get your power; you die. I promise you that Silas dies."

"And why should I trust you not to screw it up?"

"Because murder isn't peace –putting your trust in someone else after two thousand years is."

Every situation was a case-by-case basis.

"Take it from the girl who's been haunted by spirits looking for peace since she was eleven."

MJ pulled the poker out of Qetsiyah's shoulder, showing her the bloody hands.

"Doppelgänger blood."

"Smart girl," Qetsiyah took them, and the candles across the room started to blaze.

"Ina Pran Khos – "

"Suptheia Jhem Ai – "

" – Pada Khey – "

"- Ra Sattan."

She could hear people moving around the house in the background, the blood drying up.

"Ina Pran Khos – "

"Suptheia Jhem Ai – "

" – Pada Khey – "

"- Ra Sattan."

It dried up in the shape of the knot again, multiple tiny versions of it all over both of their hands as they chanted, the world starting to respond to the nature changing magic.

"Ina Pran Khos – "

"Suptheia Jhem Ai – "

" – Pada Khey – "

"- Ra Sattan."

MJ could feel the energy in her body moving, a stillness filling her up then spreading through the air like a ripple, and she focused on things about Bonnie. Her willingness to help and do good, and her laugh – and her fight. How much it hurt to know she'd indirectly let Bonnie die at Graduation by not dropping the veil herself.

"Ina Pran Khos – "

"Suptheia Jhem Ai – "

Bonnie flickered into existence with them, beaming in the doorway.

MJ used the head to gesture to the side, telling her to go – to reform with the others so they'd know it was all okay.

"Thank you."

" – Pada Khey – "

"- Ra Sattan."

Suddenly, it was like MJ was shot with a blast of fresh air, sight blurred, and both witches went completely tense.

Power was flooding their systems like shots of fire, burning under the surface of their skin like it was ready to melt it all apart – but it didn't.

Their bodies stopped tremblings, eyes stilling.

The spell completed.

The blood branded their flesh, leaving marks that would take a few days to fade out, but worth it.

Qetsiyah grinned, head moving woozily from her shoulder injury as they both sunk to the ground.

"Silas dies," She instructed.

"You have my word."

Qetsiyah held out her hands again, "Take this life away."

MJ offered her a kind smile, "Thank you for this."

"Eh," She reluctantly shrugged, "Altering someone's lifespan is what started this whole mess in the first place. I've learned my lesson."

She was eerily similar to Esther, but MJ didn't want to think about that.

Esther had tried to kill her on multiple occasions for just being associated with her 'mistakes.' Qetsiyah wanted personal revenge, and that was it. She hadn't killed Damon for making a deal with Silas, and she may have punished Stefan, but she hadn't killed him.

MJ could work with that.

"I didn't return to the world of the living to cheat my natural life span. I returned to end his. To get peace," She was getting weaker each second, "I won. Amara will be gone, and Silas will be on The Other Side."

It was incredibly twisted, and part of MJ felt bad about her role in it all, but all three parties were kinda insane, and at fault, so she tried not to think about it too hard.

You shouldn't cheat on people, you shouldn't date a guy when you know he has a girlfriend, and you shouldn't change nature just to get revenge.

"It'll hurt," Qetsiyah wrapped MJ's hands around hers firmly, "Correct?"

"Yeah."

"And that'll be my punishment then."

"I'll make it as quick as I can," MJ gripped down, the red glow filling the entire room.

She sucked every last drop of magic from the two-thousand-year-old witch faster than she ever had before, closing her eyes to try and drown out the cries of pain Qetsiyah couldn't hold back.

As the writhing stopped, MJ risked watching.

The body actually relaxed in the grip as the last of her life slipped away.

The cries died, Qetsiayh choosing to close her eyes, a sense of sleep on her face despite the blood on her shoulder and the agony her body had been in moments prior.

"Live a long and powerful life, Floare," She muttered, "Don't let love be the end of you."

Once her eyes were glassy, MJ let go.

She was buzzing, senses sharp, ready to run marathons for the rest of her life, and, most importantly, she wasn't dead.

Her heart was beating like she'd downed nine expressos in a minute, the veins on her arms and her necks flickering in and out of the glow-stick territory – but she wasn't dead.

Huh.

Maybe MJ could risk siphoning an Original without fear of death.

Not the time to think about that.

Silas, Stefan, and Amara.

With magic flooding her system, MJ could risk just flashing herself to different points in the forest around the Salvatore property until she hit the right one. Silas had gone out the side door, and Stefan hadn't been in the house, so he had to be somewhere among the trees.

Somewhere was Amare tied to a tree, Silas pulling a gag from her mouth, slitting her throat, and unaware that the anchor had been transferred.

"I love you," He whispered.

"Nice last words," MJ nodded as her body dropped dead.

He turned to face her, "I really hope you're not here to finally accept my offer."

"Not a chance."

He sighed, "It must suck to love you."

Her approaching feet stopped.

"You were more willing to bring your friend back to life than someone you loved."

MJ held her stance, "You don't understand the situation."

"Don't I?"

"No."

"Mira," He rubbed his hands together pretentiously, "I've been inside the heads of all your friends."

Her legs felt stiff.

"I know what they think of you. I know what they saw and believed."

She couldn't let herself be tempted.

"I probably have an even better understanding of your situation than you do."

"No, you don't."

"So confident."

"Kol was dead, and you can't read my mind, and we're the only two people who actually know our relationship."

"So you don't wanna know what Stefan thinks?" He mused, really thinking he'd won, "As the person you actually confided in?"

"Not particularly."

"Because he thou – "

"I kinda just wanna gloat," She stepped forward, challengingly, "You thought you could trick me into giving up the cure, and I just siphoned the daylights out of you."

He stepped forward too, "I still got the cure."

"Only to lose it again. Almost instantly."

"Faster than waiting for you to get it off, Elijah."

"It was in the kitchen."

He paused.

"That day?" She nodded smugly, "It was metres away from you, and you didn't even realise it was there."

His expression turned dark.

"No! Instead of getting it, you got choked by vines, tossed across the lawn, and drained."

He shook his head, taking another step to get in her face, "It did hurt more than I thought it would, but I feel like tricking you into thinking I was Stefan all summer shows you're not untouchable."

She glared right back up at him.

"Watching your mouth become a blood tap was also pretty enjoyable."

"I wonder if you could do it again."

"I wonder what you're really thinking right now," He lifted a hand up, "Because I think you're probably thinking about the fact I'm far better suited to the real you than Stefan is."

He was actually daring to rest his fingers against her jaw.

"Yet you side with him."

"I think you're standing far too close for comfort."

MJ kept her biceps down, lifting her hands to the side and twisting sharply, snapping both his wrists in the wrong directions, lurching him back.

"Really, MJ?" His elbows rose to point at her, "We know I have more magic than you."

He fixed his injuries with a blink, a drumbeat filling her head with an intense slam.

MJ let herself feel it for a second, hits on her mind, crying out in mock pain and watching his smile.

Then she stopped and smiled.

A rotation of her wrist had the spell reversing back on him with double the intensity, his eyes forcing open an inhumane amount as blood began to pour out of them.

"You did have more magic," Her vision was tinted with a warm glow, implying her eyes had turned orange as she forced him to his knees, feet lighting on fire, "You coming out to play, Stef?"

The heightened power in her body could feel company, the same way Davina had sensed Josh. Stefan's stress radiated through the trees, life force clear as MJ's brain entered a new level of attunement with nature.

"Oh," Silas coughed out, black spit flying out and onto the floor, "So this is a team effort?"

Stefan vamp sped, behind his face-match, squeezing his neck so hard that he was rasping, blood turning to poison in his mouth, filling it up the way he'd made blood fill hers.

"I'm sorry," Stefan said sarcastically, "Is it hard to breathe?"

MJ listened carefully as his voice gained an unfamiliar scratch to it.

"Is your throat closing?"

She couldn't look away.

"Did the fear of dying start to creep in yet?"

Silas managed to respond, starting a pain infliction spell on Stefan to shove him down, MJ rebutting it without hesitation.

"Go on," Silas managed to taunt, "Do it, kill me – I've won."

MJ laughed gleefully, "Didn't you feel that change in the air, Silas?"

His reddened eyes shot up to look at her.

"If I had worked with you, The Other Side would've been destroyed before you'd raised anyone."

He watched as her own anger climbed closer to the surface.

"The spirits lost forever."

He would've cost her Kol, Ric, Bonnie, Lexi, and countless other people.

"And I kinda think that's worse than, you know, leaving the people I care about on The Other Side."

Stefan was slowly pushing back to his feet,

Silas managed his own laugh, motioning the vampire with his head, "You know, I can see why he's suddenly drawn to you."

MJ tightened her hold on him, the fire properly scorching the soles of his feet to make him scream, except Silas was a witch. His scream came with a wave, chucking MJ into the nearest tree, flames doused.

"You both know what it's like to be buried," He panted out, "But I hear every emotion is heightened for a vampire, so Stefan probably had it worse..."

MJ felt her face being cut open with a scalpel knife made of air as she narrowed her eyes to fight against him again. It was like she was pushing a bus, muscles aching, joints blasting shooting pain around her body – but he was feeling it too, locked in an almost equal battle of wills now she had Qetisyah's magic.

"All those memories must be eating you alive right now, Stefan," Silas put out his other hand to swing his doppelgänger into a tree branch, sweat appearing on his forehead, "What's it like to die?"

MJ felt the imaginary bus creak forward.

"I've never done it. You must have done it, what? A thousand times this summer?"

"Stop it!"

MJ couldn't hear Stefan in pain, a noise forming in her throat as she closed her eyes, nails digging so deeply into her palms she might start bleeding. She had the power; she just needed to use it properly.

"Stop it?" Silas snapped, "I've spent two thousand years alone in a tomb – you were locked up for what? Three months?"

Kol had been locked up for centuries, and Silas had tried to use Kol to control her, vision flickering orange again.

"Look at you! You're a mess," Silas's concentration was breaking, "The safe was the easy part, wasn't it? Being forgotten about, that's the real torture, isn't it?"

He turned his attention to MJ.

"That's what I meant. The one that missed him? That went looking? That was you."

MJ couldn't deal with how he was still trying to manipulate them.

"You didn't forget – but you did get played. You accepted me as him with a few little hellos, and isn't that the same as forgetting him?"

MJ looked at the weak Stefan.

And she exploded, "Hau."

Silas entire body went up in flames as she stalked forward, winning the mental fight and breaking through his power, putting him out just in time to slam him to the floor with a movement of a fist.

"You're not gonna kill me," He taunted, "Not when I have the spell to fix your problems."

His smoking body barely able to speak above a whisper.

"Not when I'm probably exactly the type of person you need. Not when killing me is killing someone with Stefan's face."

"You're right," MJ yanked him up, "I'm not going to kill you."

He actually dared to laugh.

"He is."

Stefan drove the knife used to kill Amara through Silas's heart.

Silence.

He died, bug-eyed and silent.

Stefan stepped back, staring at the knife and the hole in his chest.

It was like the world was ringing around them, his body swaying in a daze, eyes flickering red as anger got the better of him, shoving the weapon back in three more times in anger.

"Hey, hey," MJ chucked the body to the floor, meaning Stefan almost daggered her, "Stop!"

"I can't!"

She put her bloody hands on his face to hold him still, "Stefan."

"I can't stop!" He roared, "If I stop, I'm going to think about it, and I can't think about it – because every time I think about it, it just starts hurting again!"

MJ didn't let go.

"And – and I – " His breathing caught in his throat as he looked around in a craze, "No. No! It's supposed to be over!"

He was barely able to stand up, every fibre shaking, pressed into her hold.

"It's supposed to be over."

"Stefan – "

"No, but I – it's bad luck," He shrunk to the floor, his true vampire eyes flaring up as he desperately grabbed around for anything, "I can't – "

He was having a panic attack.

MJ dropped to her knees too, grabbing his wrist as he started to curl up, irises growing bigger and smaller every few seconds as he tried to hide behind the need to feed.

She kept her voice comforting, "Stefan."

"There's so much noise," He shook his head, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Exactly," She nodded, "Messy noise. Little voices. Little sounds."

"Why isn't it stopping?"

"Ignore those little sounds, and listen to me," She pulled him forward, still holding his wrist, and putting the other on his face again, "And listen to me."

She was forcing him to focus.

"Because I have a very loud voice."

"MJ..."

"You are Stefan Salvatore."

"I can't brea – "

"Yes. You can," She stopped him, "Now repeat it. You are Stefan Salvatore."

"I – I am Stefan Salvatore."

"You are Stefan Salvatore, and you were born on November 1st, 1846."

"I am Stefan Salvatore," He nodded, forcing the words out, "And I was born on November 1st, 1846."

"You are the youngest of two, and you had a best friend called Lexi, who you know is probably screaming out in support right now."

"I'm the youngest of two," His words were breathy, but they were coming, "And I had a best friend called Lexi."

"Rock music fan, pool master, and someone I care an awful lot about."

He was sitting up on his own, "Rock music fan, pool master, and I care about you too."

"You are Stefan Salvatore, and you are not powerless over this situation."

"I feel powerless over this situation."

"Then," MJ breathed in slowly, "Know that I'm here, and you don't have to bury that body alone."

He looked over to it.

He wasn't shaking anymore.

He looked back to her, the red retreating, veins fading back to the flesh of his cheeks.

"There we go," She smiled, thumb stroking them away, "That's you, isn't it?"

As MJ went to let go, he shook his head.

Stefan's arms came up from the ground, wrapping around her back, hiding his face in the nook of her neck.

"Can you get rid of it?" He sounded broken, and she hated it.

"Buried or butterflies?"

She felt his eyes close, "Butterflies."

It was an easy hand wave, and the skin curled up into collections of flittering wings, different colours, somewhat swarming into the night sky, some breaking free to explore their new home.

"Thank you."

MJ nodded, holding him tight too.

There was a cough.

Damon and Elena were coming from behind some of the trees, inspecting Amara's body and the remaining insects overhead. They'd all learnt they were MJ's calling card, even if Caroline was the only one to have seen her do it before.

"He's dead?" Elena spoke first as MJ forced herself to stand, "It's over?"

"Yeah," Stefan got up too, "It's over."

Elena looked between them, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Look at me and tell me that killing Silas worked," Elena called out, "That you'll be okay now."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"Because she wants to be right," MJ's declaration caused a stillness.

She wasn't in the mood after having two mini confrontations with Silas and performing draining magic to change the anchors.

"She wants to prove she's good for you. A good friend."

The mocking in her voice was intentional.

"That the high road would've worked, but you chose this one and are just as trapped as before."

Everyone was tense, Elena's eyes pinned on her.

"Funny thing, Elena," MJ kicked at the ground, "I already told Stefan I wasn't good for him."

Numerous times.

"You have nothing to prove when it comes to me, yet here you are, trying."

She looked down, "It's important to me because I know how much he stole from Stefan."

"Yeah, and he's dead," Stefan nodded.

"And it's important to me because...while you were suffering in that safe, grasping onto hope," She started to shake her head at herself, "Fighting every second so you wouldn't lose your humanity – I was happy."

She admitted the worse bit.

"I got everything I wanted, Stefan."

He looked disappointed by not surprised.

"I got to be in love. I got the summer of my dreams – I got Bonnie back. So, I need to know that this worked."

Stefan's eyes dropped to the ground.

"I need to know that it's gonna take away all of your suffering. I need to know that you're gonna be okay."

"Oh my god!" MJ scoffed, "So his mental state is more about you than it is about him?"

"What, no – "

"That's actually worse than what I was implying!"

Damon gave her a look, "Stand down."

"No! It's ridiculous!" She argued, "Recovery isn't one track – even if doing that helped, he can relapse at any moment."

God knows she did.

"Acting like he's supposed to just be a shiny penny is selfish!"

Silence.

"It puts pressure on him to act okay, which will make it worse. His people caring brain is gonna think that any slip-ups will make you feel guilty, and you know what? Maybe feeling guilty would make you act less selfish!"

Panic attacks and PTSD were a delicate subject for MJ.

"Maybe then you could learn to be a better friend to people."

"And now it's more about you," Elena jabbed back.

"It's about the fact I was looking for him all summer. I was the one over the edge nervous about why Bonnie wasn't answering calls too – but you're the one who gets all the credit for being the saviour of the cursed and the damned."

Any hope MJ had momentarily regained for their friendship was gone.

"Everyone else has to feel bad whenever they don't lift you up with overly sweet sentiments and gratitude for the basic support of another person – which is just secretly all about you!"

"I – "

"Guess what! I don't live here anymore!"

And she wasn't about to start.

"And while I'm here – while I can call you out, I'm going to, because you actually just said to a guy experiencing PTSD that one thing needs to take away all his suffering."

Elena's mouth shut.

"The audacity!"

"What makes it worse is she's right," Stefan mumbled, staring at the ground, "She was the one missing me, but the entire time, I wasn't thinking about anyone but you two. I wanted it to be you."

Elena stepped back a little.

"When that safe finally opened and somebody found me...I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be both of you."

Damon and Elena shared a regretful look.

"And right now, I really want to be alone for a little bit."

He didn't ask her if he could go to Ric's, oddly enough. He just walked away.

"You're not going with him?" Elena said carefully.

"He doesn't wanna feel observed right now. He needs space to feel everything he's feeling without any judgement or worry," MJ's voice was hoarse from tiredness as she repeated the sentiment she'd said earlier, "He's letting it out."

Elena's next question, "Did you plan that?"

"Nope, but he acted, so I ran with it the second Qetsiyah and I had transferred anchor-ship to Bonnie."

"And you really think doing that's gonna help with this PTSD he's having?"

"I have no idea, Elena," She cleared her throat to try and push the croakiness of dry blood away, "All I know is that it's better than doing nothing."

"Is it?"

"Yep."

"You were against me killing Katherine for revenge."

"Actually, I told you to go for it," MJ corrected, "I just said it quite sarcastically."

And Elena had done it.

"Because you were using it as a way not to feel anything, and you were using it as an excuse to be a bitch to Caroline and me. Stefan's not doing that. Stefan's dealing with PTSD."

"And you're an expert on that or something?" Damon's voice wasn't even surprised.

"I've experienced it," She reminded both of them, "I still have moments."

All the times seeing Marcel's hands had made her freeze until she'd really had it out with him.

"Now," She forced herself to relax, "Bonnie. The spell worked right?"

Bonnie. This was all for Bonnie.

She needed to see Bonnie, then she needed to go to Ric's and see Kol before she exploded with anger.

a/n: third and I'm gonna say final chapter for the day. They'll be a lot more Kol in the next one, but I need a nap lol